Carbon Accounting Measurement with Digital Non-Financial Corporate Reporting and a Comparison to European Automotive Companies Statements

Abstract

The regulatory environment for both sustainability and financial reporting is changing as standardisation and digital reporting (e.g., XBRL) are gaining traction within regulators. The measurement methodology and mandatory information content of disclosures are yet to be decided for corporate CO2 reporting by EU regulators and standard-setting organisations. In our study, we reviewed the sustainability reports of three leading German automotive groups by revenue for the period 2016–2020 as a case study. The research methodology was carried out with text-mining-aided content analysis to provide a collection of sustainability standards (GRI and SASB) in the evaluation of emissions reporting. As an addition to prior literature, conditions of relevance and clarity regarding published information were introduced in the evaluation process of compliance to CO2 disclosures. Companies by reporting practice were assigned to different stages of carbon management and actual emissions were evaluated. In the conclusions, discussion of the reliability of reported sustainability information, the applicability of digital reporting is provided through regional perspectives. We found that although analytical methods are available to assess the level of corporate carbon management, their usefulness is limited if the data are not reliable. Significant progress can be expected from analyses using standardised, comparable corporate carbon data.

Linking Sustainability Reporting and Energy Consumption Through Global Reporting Initiative Standards and Sustainable Development Goals

“…This is a key factor in the auditing process of these reports, as deviations in the method of presentation or the methodologies make it di cult to analyze and validate the values presented. The implications of this research, based on the results of the analysis, complement the previous ndings of ( Tóth et al 2021) that sustainability reporting is currently still inconsistent and at the same time has a real impact on business practices.…”

Adopción de indicadores de sostenibilidad y características de los directorios en Chile post NCG 461

“…(2) Para identificar los indicadores de sostenibilidad SASB reportados por las empresas de la muestra, se procedió a realizar un análisis de contenido (Gunawan & Susilo, 2021;Krippendorff, 1990), basado en el enfoque temático (Jones & Shoemaker, 1994). El análisis de contenido ha sido ampliamente utilizado en investigaciones relacionadas a revelación de información de sostenibilidad (Tóth et al, 2021;Gunawan & Susilo, 2021;Fifka, 2013).…”